The Impact of Generative AI-Based Cognitive offloading on Cognitive Absorbtion Among University students: The Mediating Role of Cognitive Load

Abstract

This empirical study aimed to investigate the relationship between Generative AI-based cognitive offloading and cognitive absorption, as well as to test the mediating role of cognitive load among students at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Setif 2 University, Algeria. The research problem stemmed from the radical shift in students' interaction patterns with technology as a cognitive partner easing mental burdens, alongside the risks associated with excessive offloading of higher-order cognitive processes. To achieve the study objectives, a descriptive correlational design was employed with a stratified random sample of 159 male and female students. Descriptive analysis revealed a high level of AI-based cognitive offloading , a moderate level of cognitive load , and a high level of cognitive absorption. To test the mediation hypothesis, Baron and Kenny's three-step regression approach was applied. The first equation showed no statistically significant effect of cognitive offloading on cognitive absorption . The second equation indicated no significant effect of cognitive offloading on cognitive load . The third equation demonstrated no significant effect of cognitive load on cognitive absorption in the presence of cognitive offloading . Consequently, due to the failure to satisfy the requisite mediation conditions, the study statistically rejected the hypothesis, confirming the complete absence of a mediating role for cognitive load. These findings suggest that AI-based cognitive offloading is currently practiced as a neutral procedural and organizational behavior that does not linearly drive overall cognitive load or digital absorption among university students.